My observations on life cars and the universe. Particularly cars and aspects of driving. I have a particular interest in car tuning and regularly contribute articles and features to TorqueCars.com

29 Apr 2007

We all know that blokes hate asking for directions. Sat nav was hailed as the answer to this age old problem and hopefully men will never get lost again! Unfortunately the SAT nav has a darker side as people start depending on it too much.

Aside from the obvious problem of a driver fiddling with his sat nav and crashing the car it seems that many of us will blindly follow the instructions given. It's interesting that a search for sat nav accidents in Goole returns over 300,000 results (admittedly not all individual accident reports but still alarming none the less.

In Germany a 53 year old followed a turn right instruction without even looking where he was going. He entered a building site, drove up a staircase and wrote off a portaloo!Another driver saw signs on the motorway saying that the motorway was closed due to road works. The sat Nav insisted - continue onto the motorway and he came to an embarrasing halt on a pile of sand!

A £96,000 merc was writted off after a woman followed its instruction up a country lane clearly marked unsuitable for motor vehicles and attempted to cross a Ford which had overflowed and ended up being swept down stream. The electrics cut out causing the windows to open and the terrified driver was struggling to get out when a local swam across and rendered assistance. A local garage confirmed that there was water in the engine and the car was deemed a total loss!

Another driver turned right at a railroad crossing onto the tracks and was hit by a train! Yet another motorist managed to turn right into a supermarket and crashed through the doors into the tinned fruit isle! The stories are endless!

Then I was in Cornwall, it had been a long arduous hour drive and we were pretty desparate to find our accommodation.... eventually we arrived at St Ives in Cornwall and it sent us up a steep cobbled high street full of people on a Saturday afternoon - only about a car wide labelled 'access only' for motor vehicles.

So people were giving us black looks and prams were being pushed out of our way. It was one of the most embarrasing experiences of my life. Clutch was burning badly and the thing was getting harder to control then it said turn right up a little road that was about 1.4m wide!!!! So we had to continue up the high street to the end!!!!

I wouldn't mind but it was a wrong turn completely - the map didn't line up with the street. I guess Cornwall lies on a moving techtonic plate!! In my defense the SAT nav was completely wrong and had miss named the streets! Still I do feel pretty daft - don't tell anyone!

27 Apr 2007

Many people take tuning a little too far. Torquecars decided to make it easy for people to know if they have gone too far with this little article.

You know when you've overtuned your car ...

... When you put your foot to the floor and watch your engine and front wheels zoom off up the road taking half the car with it!... When you set car alarms off as soon as your 24" sub kicks in.... When the pistons rip themselves away from the con rod and fly through the head!... When valves skip at idle!...When you make babies cry when you drive past.... When you could blow away all competition at the lights, if only your engine would idle...When you know you could overtake that bicycle if only the road was flat! Doh!... When you can pass everything except for a petrol station.... When you get torque steer in fourth in a diesel car in the dry.... When it still moves with the engine switched off because there is 7 inches travel on the sub woofers!... When birds and small children get sucked through the radiator

These suggestions were supplied by Torquecars members who are a die hard bunch of car tuners and car modders. There are lots more posts like this one in the Torquecars tuning club

26 Apr 2007

A 19 year old from LA was awarded over $70,000 and medical costs when his neighbour ran over his hand. The 19 year old was stealing the hubcars and didn't see his neighbour get into the car!

Then Mrs Grazinski from Oklahoma was pleased with her new 32 foot winnebago. She put the cruise control on and went into the back to make a cup of tea. Unsuprisingly the vehicle careered off the road. She successfully sued Winnebago because they didn't explain in the manual that the cruise control was not a replacement for the driver! She was awarded over one and a half million dollars plus got a new motorhome.

It's people like this that put up the cost of insurance for the rest of us.

Perhaps I should sue Audi for leaving the parking brake off on a hill and getting run over by the car. Or maybe I should throw a burning rag into the fuel tank to see what happens (they didn't say anything in the manual about not doing that!!

25 Apr 2007

I see so many cars which have been ruined by tacky or tasteless modifications. This blog will concentrate on useful tuning (for power) and tasteful styling modifications to cars and act as a guide to ensure that tacky cars are not going to fill up our streets and highways. (I hope!)

When adding styling to a car you really need to plan things out carefully in advance. When you just start bolting things on at random you are asking for a visit from the style police. The most sucessful show cars are ones which are themed. So perhaps you might go with a racing theme and cover the car with carbon fibre vents and scoops. You might go with a girly pink look and cover the interior dash in Pink furry fabric! The key is to get the theme right then buy the parts and accessories to go with it rather than just try and make a part fit in because you happen to have seeen it in the bargain bin of the shop.

When modding a cars engine or suspension, many people forget that they have to live with the car and create a fuel burning, harsh riding car which is very impractical. The car styling guide gives a wide range of practical advice and help.

24 Apr 2007

I cleaned my car at the weekend. That is the trouble with hot sunny days - the car gets covered with dust. Guess what I've discovered - its purple! I got fed up with the layer of dust and wasn't sure if I should plough it and sow potatoes or just go with a thorough wash.

In the end I decided to wash it and it's come up great. There is a bit of a problem with tar splats - and didn't have any idea how to remove them easily. I've tried kitched cleaner and washing up liquid. Someone suggested a bit of petrol on a rag and this has worked a treat - no tar, no stains and no birdy do do.

Its always amazing how many new dents/stone chips and imperfections you pick up on when the car is clean. So the next job is to touch up the stone chips and try to remove the dents!

(24 hours later and the birds haven't located it so I'm well happy!)

I used the information posted at Torquecars car cleaning tips to get the best result and even got my wife to help me out with it! The paint has come up really nicely and all that remains is to slap on a bit of polish and we are finished.

20 Apr 2007

I really should get into this blogging lark - it has been a bit of a shaky start but I am now committed. Committed in what sense is open to debate. I will endevour to blog more frequently on life the universe and cars. (I like cars!) I am into car tuning in a big way having recked my first car by overtuning it I certainly have learned by my mistakes.